Assuming the 44 is strong enough, handloading hotter is possible. But barrel length is important too. Commercial ammo is usually measured on a 5 inch barrel or so, but that snubnose ammo is built for shorter barrels. We would have to test 45acp ammo out of a 2" barrel for it to be fair.

You're overthinking this stuff and you're talking six of one, half a dozen of the other, in real life those two loads would probably give very similar terminal performance. If you want more "power" there's plenty of other .44mag loads out there that will deliver.

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I never shot anything but jack rabbits with a .44 magnum; however, I have shot a wild boar with the .45 acp. I used a Hornady 200 grain XTP loaded to 1020 fps from my Smith 625. I was hunting with dogs so my shot was point blank. The bullet hit the hog in front of the shoulder and ranged diagonally, taking out three inches of neck bone, for ten or twelve inchen lodging under the ear and behind the jaw bone on the opposite side. The 45 acp is an adequate self defence round. I have reason to belive that a .429, 200 grain bullet at 1075 would giive simular reults. I think it's six of one and a half dozen of the other.

But what load of .44 Special (or magnum?) will equal a self defense load of .45 ACP in terminal ballistics?

As WC145 said, you can argue all day about the minutiae of one load versus another in .44Spl and .45ACP, since none of them are exactly the same. That said, the .44Spl SD loads from Buffalo Bore, Cor-Bon, Doubletap, Hornady, and Speer are basically equivalent to any high-quality .45ACP SD load in real-world effectiveness. The differences amount to splitting hairs.

Additional Notes:

Virtually any quality .44Mag SD load will send most .45ACP loads crying home for their mama. This is generally true with any barrel length under virtually any conditions, but the tradeoff is noise and muzzle blast. .44Spl SD loads are largely marketed to .44Mag owners who wish to use their revolvers for SD without worrying about noise and flash levels that approach naval artillery.

.45ACP factory ammo is generally cheaper and far more widely available than .44Spl. However, the difference largely evaporates if you handload.

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The loading in question is a very light .44 Magnum load. It is labeled as a "short barrel" loading not because it attains maximum velocity from a short barrel, but because it produces much less recoil that full-power loadings (a concern due to the lighter weight of guns with short barrels) and because it is loaded with a bullet that will still expand well at reduced velocities. Speer's 210gr and 240gr Gold Dot .44 Magnum loadings are much more powerful than anything in .45 ACP or the "short barrel" .44 Magnum loading though they will have greatly increased recoil and penetration.

Meplat is also pretty meaningless in an expanding bullet. The important considerations in an expanding bullet are total penetration depth, final expanded diameter, and rapidity of expansion. Meplat is mainly a concern with flat-nosed non-expanding bullets like FMJ or SWC used for hunting large and/or dangerous game.

That's been the ongoing joke about my Bulldog all these years that I've owned it. It carrys like a J frame, but hits like an O frame. Almost. It's closer to a 44 Special than it is a Mag. The difference is only on paper.

2. Is the .45 ACP load also shot in the same barrel length and chonoed from it?

It was tested from a 5" barrel.

3. What brand of ammo in the .45 are you comparing it against?

Speer

What is most important though is what Webleymkv mentioned earlier, that short-barrel ammo is reduced flash, reduced recoil ammo, not ammo that burns powder faster to maximize muzzle velocity from a short barrel. As such this whole line of thought is pointless as the wrong things are being compared to start with.

And thanks for asking the most important question, "Does it make a difference?"

I have never seen anyone asking the 44 vs 45 vs 40 vs 9mm question, ask that question in the beginning.

So, you deserve the definitive answer. Here it is: Sorry, it is a matter of opinion.

The only opinion that matters is the opinion of whoever catches the bullet. If it hurts enough to make whoever stop doing whatever, then it is enough.

The .45 ACP has a good track record. If you have a short-barreled 44 and no 45 available, that load you found seems to have essentially equivalent ballistics, except for being 11% smaller in frontal area; I am counting on no expansion of any consequence. I opine that the 44 may transfer impact less suddenly than the 45, but I am getting out of my depth to go further than that.

I would choose whichever gun I can shoot better under pressure, as shot placement will trump an 11% effectiveness difference by a LONG shot.

Well arentol, the guns may be 'tested' at 4 and five inch but lots of people pack 3 inchers. A 4 inch .44 magnum isn't really all that short and a 5 inch 1911 kind of drags when packing the 100 degree Texas weather.

And while they tested speer ammo there is lots of other ammo out there (DPX, while hugely expensive, is awful good.)

But I would not worried to much if all I had was my S&W 3 inch Lew Horten 24, .44 Spl. with DPX (or a S&W Backpacker .44 magnum loaded the same way.)

Deaf

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